Food sustainability education as a route to healthier eating: evaluation of a multi-component school programme in English primary schools

Abstract

Promising approaches to the promotion of healthier eating among children in primary school settings include the opportunity to practise practical cooking and growing, promoting the take up of healthier school meals and nutritional education. However, less is known about the potential for strategies that integrate approaches through a focus on food sustainability issues--such as the promotion of awareness about local, seasonal, organic, fair trade and higher animal welfare foods. This paper presents an evaluation of the Food for Life Partnership, a multi-component programme that sought to address both the health and sustainability aspects of food. The study consisted of a two-stage cross-sectional survey of Years 5 and 6 students (ages 9-11) in 30 primary schools at enrolment and after 18-24 months, combined with an analysis of programme delivery. Higher self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption in the second stage survey was associated with a range of indicators of school participation in the programme. These included the reform of school meal procurement and preparation; experiential food growing, cooking and farm-based education and improved opportunities for stakeholder engagement. The study therefore develops a case for multilevel programmes that incorporate sustainability issues alongside experiential food education in primary school settings.

A qualitative study of a food intervention in a primary school: Pupils as agents of change

“…This corresponds with other studies of school-based cooking and gardening projects and effects on children's nutrition (Gibbs et al, 2013;Jones et al, 2012;Passy et al, 2010;Ransley et al, 2010;Wright & Rowell, 2010) and children's food awareness and skills. (Passy et al, 2010;Somerset & Markwell, 2009;Yeatman et al, 2013) This, along with the developing priorities of cooking and nutrition in schools, as evidenced by the revised National Curriculum, is further endorsement of school-based food activities.…”

Scaling up and out as a Pathway for Food System Transitions

“…Awards are categorised at bronze, silver and gold levels to reflect the scope and scale of reforms implemented. Previous research has found that the award levels serve as an indicator of the scale of impact on sustainable food systems [57], for example with respect to greater procurement from local or organic food producers and suppliers [56]. Impacts on the wider consumption behaviours of service users, for example the household food purchases of school parents, is less clearly evidenced although self-report surveys suggest a positive influence [58] FFL presents a valuable case of niche influencing agri-food systems because it is regarded as the "the gold standard" in sustainable school food but had been confined to "islands of good practice" [21], within a public food regime centred on low-cost mass-catering [5].…”

Factors affecting fruit and vegetable school lunch waste in Wisconsin elementary schools participating in Farm to School programmes

“…Although the positive effects of low-energy-dense food have been demonstrated in adults (8) , the data are somewhat inconsistent, particularly among children (9)(10)(11) . While many factors influence dietary preferences and habits, encouraging children to consume recommended amounts of F&V is often part of programming conducted in schools (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18) . Schools are common intervention sites for studies in children due to their large, representative populations (19) .…”

“…While many factors influence dietary preferences and habits, encouraging children to consume recommended amounts of F&V is often part of programming conducted in schools (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18) . Schools are common intervention sites for studies in children due to their large, representative populations (19) .…”